Return to Oz - What Even is This Movie? | The Fangirl Retrospective
Vložit
- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- Return to Oz is a crazy, bleak, post-apocalyptic view of the world of the Emerald City, and I'm about to breakdown the insanity of this film!
Find Return to Oz on Amazon: amzn.to/2vsobQZ
Get 5 Disney Movies for $1 with DMC: fbuy.me/mYBvc
The Fangirl merch: www.teepublic....
My favorites on Amazon: www.amazon.com...
Find me elsewhere:
Twitch - / sayhalogoodbye
Instagram - / sayhalogoodbye
Twitter - / the_fanily
Facebook - / sayhalogoodbye
The FANily - / thefanily
SayHaloGoodbye Gaming - / sayhalogoodbye
Fan mail? Mailing address is in the "About" section of the channel - / @thefangirlwatches
In Return to Oz, the sequel to The Wizard of Oz, there are no witches, no flying monkeys, no munchkins, no Scarecrow, no Tinman, no Cowardly Lion. They've all been turned to stone! The Yellow Brick Road has been demolished, and the Emerald City is in shambles, and it's all the fault of Dorothy Gale from Kansas! She dropped her Ruby Red Slippers into the lap of the Nome King when she left Oz 6 months prior, and now she has to clean up her mess with the small Army of Oz. Let's hope Princess Mombi and the Wheelers don't get to Dorothy first!
This video and description may contain affiliate links, which means that, if you click on one of the product links, I'll receive a small commission. This helps support the channel and allows us to continue to make videos like this. Thank you for the support!
All views expressed are opinions.
This video is Fair Use under U.S. copyright law (Section 107 of the Copyright Act) because it is transformative in nature, uses no more of the original work than necessary, and has no negative effect on the market for the original work. Furthermore, this video is protected speech as outlined by the first amendment of the United States Constitution.
#ReturntoOz #DisneyPlus #WizardofOz #TheFangirl
I want to believe OZ is real, but even the Wheelers made the noises like the patients in the wheel chairs. Plus, having someone with a big imagination can really help deal with trauma or even loneliness.
Oh my gosh I don't think I even noticed the wheelchair noise. Magnificent catch Julie!
Read the books. Oz is real.
@@TheFangirlWatches It was a gurney, actually, pushed by an intern played by Pons Maar, who played the Lead Wheeler.
@@TheFangirlWatches They even hint at it while shes being taken through the hallway and the guy looks like one of the doods who played the wheelers. So it was definitely intentional.
It's a parallel world.
In the books, Oz is very much real and Dorothy and her family move there eventually. It was the movies that added the ambiguity.
Yeah I remember reading the first book when I was around 8 years old, and I didn't feel like Oz's existence was in question. It's a really smart thing to do with the movie though, because it encourages people to talk in depth about the movie and build hype/multiple visits to the theatre.
@@TheFangirlWatches No, not really. At the time it came out, there was no question of this adventure being a dream. Walter Murch said flat out that Oz was real.
They'll NEVER STEP A FOOT IN OZ, unless its to rescue the guy with the black hat who speaks behind the Hologram. Go watch the new UPDATED version. 🎭🎬🎥🌏🌎🌍🐤🐦🐦🐦🐦🛅✈✈✈✈✈
@@williampalmer9828 ?
@@MaskedMan66 Very much real. Dorothy and her aunt and uncle end up living in OZ in the books.
My theory is that the head nurse was arrested for helping the doctor perform unethical experiments on patients no doubt to perfect the electroshock treatment. That's why their are patients kept in the basement
No need for theorizing; that's exactly why she was arrested.
@@MaskedMan66 Where is this explained at again?
@@gozinta82 In the movie.
I always thought she the nurse was arrested because she lost Dorothy and possibly Ozma who had drowned in the river. If an authority figure through that she the nurse was responsible for a death, and the loss of a miner than being arrested at the end of the film would make sense.
@@maliaferry8212 She was arrested because she was an accessory to Dr. Worley's unethical experiments, which came to light during the destruction of the asylum.
P.S.: Minor. ;-)
Also, it's a pretty dark theory, but if going by Oz/Kansas counterparts, I'm inclined to think that the Kansas Ozma actually drowned while Dorothy stayed on the crate, and that's the nurse was arrested for negligence.
In today's world, I'd totally believe that, just in 1899 the laws were so lax that I'm not sure she'd be arrested unless she personally drowned Ozma.
@@jonathonearl482 In no version of the story except the movie version of "The Wiz" did Glinda send the storm that brought Dorothy to Oz. And in the first movie, which was made in 1910, Glinda had only the briefest of cameos.
@@jonathonearl482 Bit of Oz trivia: Ozites are immortal.
@@jonathonearl482 I always believe Ozma was Dorothy's alter ego.
The movie is to be taken as read, and indeed the novelization confirms that Ozma is Ozma and that Oz is real.
A personal favorite. I was lucky enough to see this in the theater when it came out, and the audience was NOT expecting aythig so dark. Me? I ate it up.
Oh I'm super jealous! I grew up watching it from a recording on tv and even know I can hear a narrator doing the exit/intro when that break comes up 🤣
The spell cast by the Nome King was dark; Dorothy, on the other hand, was the light that permeated the story.
@@MaskedMan66 It was still a DARK Disney movie, nonetheless.
@@gozinta82 No, it was a fantasy film with scary elements, but the theme was overcoming darkness.
@@MaskedMan66 whatever you say. It still was dark. Is that okay?
"Some metal dude named TikTok that constantly needs to be wound up..." hm...
this movie is a prophecy, that's why it doesn't make sense!
This movie is based on books written in the first decade of the 20th century.
"Don't tell anybody about Oz. It's like Fight Club."
That is messed up and I kinda love it.
Except that it isn't.
I cannot believe I never made the Em(erald)/ Garnet connection before; I've only been watching this movie for the last 30+ years lol.
I was more of a fan of the books than the MGM movie as a kid; they were way more weird and interesting, and the illustrations were beautiful. The Art Nouveau style is one of the things I love best about Return to Oz; it's beautiful and not commonly seen in movies.
I also think this is a healthy kind of scary for kids; I think once you hit 7 or 8 you start enjoying creepier things (see also the Scary Stories books).
Same! That part blew my mind!
YES! I haven't seen anyone else comment about the Emerald catch yet, but I was so excited to think of that. And I can see where, by age 8, the movie wouldn't bother most kids, but I was like 3 when I started watching it. I had no concept that these people and places weren't real 😂
@@TheFangirlWatches They are real.
The rattling wail of “Dorothy Gail!” Echoing through mombi’s palace lives rent free in my brain
Forever and ever and ever and ever! lol
Gale. Baum gave her that surname in the 1902 musical as a pun on the way she got to Oz on her first visit.
That movie frickin scared me! Especially with the tech dudes that chases her on wheels, and the head lady... though Jack was my favorite.
The Wheelers were horrific!
@@TheFangirlWatches The Wheelers freaked me out as well.
"Tech dudes?" There's no tech in Oz.
MaskedMan66, I was talking about the Wheelers. Plus, what about the robots? Do those not quantify as tech?
@@monroerobbins7551 The Wheelers' wheels are natural; in the books, they're basically of the same material as finger and toe nails.
Also in the books, Oz is proudly and unabashedly "uncivilized." To be sure, that does slowly change as the books carry on, and as for Tik-Tok, he was manufactured in the land of Ev. He runs on clockwork, which is about as high-tech as things get until a bit later, when Oz gets a telegraph so that Baum can still receive news of the goings-on in Oz.
I loved this movie growing up. People tell me it's scary, I thought it was fantastic! It was baby's first dark movie. And I do so love that dystopian version of Oz.
But I'm gonna say Oz is real, one reason being they used more info from the books while peppering in bits from the MGM WoZ. Such as Dorothy explaining how the tinman became what he is by chopping off his own body parts sure to a cursed axe. Not to mention they used designs based off the book characters (honestly I geek out over how much they used references from the books even though they had combined 2 stories while using MGM's WoZ in an effort not to alienate the audience completely for the plot)
But I'm gonna bring in the one character from WoZ that didn't have a parallel (as far as I know), Glinda. She's actually in this movie along with some other book counterparts that are in no way mental parallels in Dorothy's dream.
Ozma telling Dorothy to be quiet may be for Em's sake, the woman just got her life back together the last thing she needs is to know Oz is real and she committed Dorothy for no reason or she sees nothing and think Dorothy needs to see a different Dr who more than likely will also try something that hurt her.
Now that you mention Glinda, it is odd that there are no witches or munchkins in the movie. Maybe they're scattered around in the ending, but even Munchkinland was missing. Shouldn't the buildings still at least be there?
@@TheFangirlWatches
I'm trying not to ramble or be over long with this but Oz is just one of those things I have weird trivial knowledge of so I'm gonna try not to write a book report.
The munchkins may have been leveled by the gnome king given the state of the yellow brick road. The lack of ruined homes I can't explain. They may have just been lazy with building the set for something that would only be there for a moment.
Mombi is a witch. Remember Ozma said that she's a witch without her powers making her the most miserable creature ever. And Glinda gets a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo at the end you can find a picture of it in the wiki so witches are present just none that can help Dorothy.
The lack of other witches is kinda the fault of them mixing book sources with MGM but still it wouldn't have made much of a difference. IIRC there were 5 known witches North, South, East, West, and Mombi who was the wicked witch of the North but Glinda took over (there was a ww if the South but she's dead so we're not concerned with her).
Dotty kills E & W. S & E were merged into Glinda resulting in the most effed up line in the WoZ that Dorothy coulda gone home from the start but Glinda didn't tell her because after seeing 2 ppl appear outta nowhere, meeting munchkins, have shoes said to be powerful magiced onto her feet which warded off a witch and being told to see a magic man she "wouldn't have believed me" rather than have one who didn't know and one who does. Anyhow yeah there's only a few witches in Oz to start with.
But there's plenty of enchantresses and magicians...I think until Ozma decreed that no one else can use magic except her, Glinda, and the wizard after his return and cuts off Oz from everywhere else to protect it...from invasion of outsiders...huh.
I've rambled enough but I'll say Emerald City did an interesting modern retelling that addressed the odd lack of witches. I liked it but I knew it wasn't gonna get renewed.
One of the main selling points for me (and, as it happens, for Jean Marsh, who played Mombi and Nurse Wilson) was how closely they adhered to John R. Neill's illustrations, right down to the architecture and the clothing. A lot of characters from the books appear in the Emerald City Restoration scene, but I've never seen anyone who could be Glinda. Where do you see her?
And Em didn't have Dorothy committed, she didn't even realize that Worley would want to keep her overnight.
@@MaskedMan66 that's one of the reasons I really appreciate it. That just shows how much of a fan you are. I wonder if they fought over the color of the shoes (I only know a few bits of trivia about production).
It's very possible that I'm mistaken in who I believe Glinda is in that scene. A good reason to watch it all over again!
@@LadyBern LOL Does it show? I've loved and visited Oz since I was six years old. :-)
I believe that Walter Murch did always intend to use the ruby slippers, just because people knew them. I personally think that it was the only mistake he made in this movie. He should have used the silver shoes and let RtO be its own animal.
I'll have a look myself; at which point do you see her?
I was obsessed with this movie when I was like 8 🥺
This is one movie that I've never gotten over. Sometimes you like something a lot when it comes out (in my case Catwoman) and then later you're like "eww, why did I like this?" But Return to Oz is still a 10/10 for me!
In the books oz was very much a real place it was just separated from our world by a desert and when dorthy got back home she arrives in her socks because the silver shoes fell off in the desert
I have soooo much to say. I'm an old nerd, and I saw this movie back when it was in theaters. First thing I want to say is, PLEASE read the books! You can get all 13 Oz books as an e-book for a buck. Yes, L. Frank Baum can't maintain continuity for anything, but they are very entertaining. Anyhow, Return to Oz combined elements of the second and third books. (My favorite is still the 7th book, Patchwork Girl of Oz.) But Disney in adapting the books felt they needed to also incorporate elements from the MGN film. After all, that was how most people knew Oz. This meant parallels between people in Kansas and Oz, and keeping Oz as maybe just a dream. In the books, however, Oz is as real as Dorothy, Toto or Aunt Em. In the MGM movie, Oz is only a fever dream brought on by a combination of guilt and a concussion. This movie leaves it a tad ambiguous, but seems to lean to the side of, just a dream. Which I feel is too bad. That makes all of Dorothy's heroics meaningless. She didn't save a kingdom, an entire magic land! It was all just a fantasy. She didn't risk life and limb. She was asleep. She's not a hero. She's just a confused girl. The books are much better.
If you like Oz movies, might I recommend the series Lost in Oz on Amazon Prime Video. Lots of theory fodder! And not at all what I expected.
In the books, the slippers are silver instead of red ruby.
Baum wrote fourteen Oz books, plus a book of six short Oz tales. Of course, the official Oz canon contains forty books.
@@jonathonearl482 And they're shoes.
@@MaskedMan66
I must have been thinking 13 sequels to the first book. Thanks for the correction. Personally I don't consider anything after his death as actually canon, but it made the publisher money.
@@wattsisnaim8111 It's nothing to do with readers' perceptions. The canon is determined by the fact that they were all published by the same company, and the succeeding authors had the blessing of Maud Gage Baum, Frank's widow, for as long as she lived. I mean, one of her own sons tried to publish his own Oz book with another company-- and she took him to court! So I think even though the king was dead, the queen had the final decision on what was canon and what wasn't. ;-)
My sister told me stories about this movies when I was a kid, and when I finally came across it as an adult, I had to know. I was not disappointed
Have you read the books? Part of why this movie is so good is that it hews very closely to the characters and concepts created by Baum.
It's nice that someone else knows about this movie, I thought I was the only one. It's been years since I've seen it, but I always thought Ms Wilson was put in jail because of malpractice - meaning the patients kept in the basement. The main Wheeler is also one of the nurses in the hospital too.
Oh my gosh IS HE?! How have I never noticed that? Well... probably because they barely show that male nurse/orderly/whatever, but now I need to rewatch it!
@@TheFangirlWatches Any excuse to rewatch, eh? ;)
@@TheFangirlWatches Orderly, correct. Pons Maar also plays the voice of the Nome Scout who reports to the King.
Yeah the Head Wheeler was the person on a cream jacket pushing a very squeaky wheel cart
@@Cynni393 Gurney.
I love this movie so much and I'm glad you made a video about it.
I personally like the idea, that Dorothy is just making it up in her head in order to overcome a traumatic situation. A lot of kids her age(myself included) would do this, so it seems quite realistic to me, unlike a lot of different theories, where * insert character here * is in a coma or dream etc.
There's supposed to be something too where the human mind never forgets a face, so Oz would certainly he a creative way to recycle the faces of people you barely know (subconsciously).
That isn't what went on in this movie. Oz is real, rest assured.
MaskedMan66 (Sorry for the late reply.)
I know, it’s just a headcanon/idea, I and some other people had while watching. ^^
@@tourmaverse I get you. But the intention of the filmmakers must supersede any other ideas. In the movie, as in the books, Oz is real.
And don't worry about late replies; I've gotten back to people after a year or two. :-)
Man, I used to put my old roller skates on my hands and roll around pretending I was a wheeler, haven't thought about that in years
I would have run away screaming from you as a kid lol
Thank you for making this movie easier to understand! Also I love your hair, it's so pretty!
Thank you so much Bailey! 💕
All you have to do is read the books "The Marvelous Land of Oz" and "Ozma of Oz." Pretty much everything you need to know is there. :-)
Princess Mombi such an iconic and vain character love her to bits 🖤
I want the world to remember her!
She's a combination of two characters; Mombi, an old Gillikin woman with witchy tendencies and a certain amount of political ambition, and Princess Langwidere of Ev, a vain royal with thirty heads (all, apparently, her own, though she does offer one to Dorothy in trade), who is not a villain, but is also not of much help to the heroes.
I love this movie. I watched this as a child. It had the same creepy feel as The Wiz did. Which was also my favorite as a child.
Oooh I haven't seen The Wiz in forever but I remembered really liking it. Now, I can tell you Michael Jackson was in it and that's about it lol
They both are creepy movies and have strange creatures in it. The Wheelers were always the creepiest. The movies feel very similar so I think that's why I love them both.
@@aimeersd I'm always amazed by how so many people seem to be afraid of the Wheelers, even though they're revealed pretty early on to be bullies and cowards.
@@TheFangirlWatchesthe wiz can't hold a candle to the wizard of oz!
Though diana Ross and Michael jackson(r.i.p.) are incredible in it!
I think in the movies it's a way for Dorothy to process what happened in her life. But in the books it's written as un ambiguously a real place(i haven't read them myself but that's what I've heard)
I remember reading the original book when I was like 8, so I remember nothing really, but I don't recall people doubling up in the books like they do in the movie, which would help make a case for Oz being real.
@@TheFangirlWatches There were no such cases of counterparts; in fact, as regards the first book, there were no farm hands, no Miss Gulch, and no Professor Marvel. We barely meet Dorothy, Henry, Em, and Toto before the cyclone blows in. And when Dorothy returns to Oz in the third book, she and Uncle Henry are on an ocean voyage to Australia when she gets washed overboard in a chicken coop and ends up in Ev, a magical realm very close to Oz.
But see if you can track down the books and give 'em a read; wonderful stuff! :-D
Oz is very real in the books. In fact, Dorothy moves to Oz full time in the sixth book, and has Ozma bring Uncle Henry and Aunt Em to live there as well.
not gonna lie I thought this movie was a fever dream I had as a kid
lol I could see that. I've been having a similar issue with a movie about a Christmas Tree that gets burned alive after Xmas is over.
Makes sense
I saw it in the theatre when I was a kid and it scared the shit out of me. But it stuck with me, I ended up renting it many times after that.
Yes! I lived for this movie as a kid even though it terrified me!
You may have already noticed this but I thought I’d add some details with regards to the movies rich symbolism and interpretations.
1. The head male nurse is the leader of the wheelers. We only ever see his face for the Nurses and the wheelers, and the *sound made by the bed on wheels* pushed by the nurses *is the exact same sound made by the wheelers.*
2. Princess Mombi’s multiple heads has been interpreted as a *metaphor for multiple personalities, or indicative of some sort of trauma/dissociation.* It’s no surprise that Mombi’s castle has lots of mirrors and reflective surfaces, as mirrors are often a symbol of introspection and identity. *Multiple mirrors = multiple identities.* Not incidentally, the kind of unsafe electroshock therapy Dr Worley was performing would lead to fractured personalities.
3. The Nome King is made of stone, and is depicted as being absorbed into the stone. If we go by the interpretation that the whole film takes place in Dorothy’s fractured mind as she undergoes electroshock therapy, then this visual design of the Nome King (played by the same actor as Dr Worley) *symbolizes how deeply ingrained and embedded Dr Worley has become in Dorothy’s psyche* due to the trauma induced by electroshock therapy.
4. With regards to the friends Dorothy makes, you’ve already noticed how Tik Tok and the Pumpkin head are foreshadowed by the electroshock machine and the pumpkin she’s given, *BUT* did you notice that the *Moose Head* that Dorothy brings to life was *already present in Dorothy’s home* back in the real world? We see it briefly as a background prop early on in the film.
5. The mental patients are locked in the *basement* of the institute, where the screaming sounds are heard early in the film. This parallels the Nome King who states that *he lives below Oz, deep underground,* which looks like something out of Dante’s Inferno. The truth of Dr Worley’s experiments and the Nome King’s true form are both _buried deep below._
5. It’s briefly mentioned towards the end of the film that *the mental hospital Dorothy was imprisoned in burned down in a fire,* much like how the Nome King’s lair goes down in a fiery blaze. It’s implied that all the patients in the basement died. _This is important for my 7th point._
6. *Princess Mombi is locked in a cage by the Nome King* for letting Dorothy escape, paralleling *the nurse in the real world facing arrest,* though the exact reason for her arrest is open to interpretation. Was she arrested because of maltreatment towards the patients? (unlikely given the period), or was it because of something darker and more disturbing. This is important for my next point....
7. It’s explained at the end of the film that the institute burned down and no one survived, yet the nurse is alive.
Was she arrested because she was *suspected of starting the fire?*
*OR did the nurse actually start the fire?*
*OR* did she return from her failed attempt to catch Dorothy from the river *only to find the hospital burning down from the storm, then to face the wrath of the authorities who would suspect her?*
8. This isn’t a point as much as it is a question. The one thing I don’t understand is the significance of the Nome King being afraid of eggs. Why would eggs be his weakness? Eggs are a traditional symbol of fertility and new life. However in some traditions it’s also a bad omen.
End of thoughts.
1. Orderly is the word, and yes, the screeching wheels of the gurney and the Wheelers were meant to match.
2. The answer is a heckuva lot simpler. Now, Mombi is a combination of two characters: a minor witch named Mombi from "The Marvelous Land of Oz," and Princess Langwidere of Ev in "Ozma of Oz." It was Langiwdere who had the thirty heads (and strictly naturally, it seems), and the mirrors in her palace were simply because she was extremely vain and loved looking at all her different faces.
3. "the interpretation that the whole film takes place in Dorothy’s fractured mind as she undergoes electroshock therapy,"
I've never heard of any such interpretation, and it sort of fails to take into account that the majority of the movie takes place after the power goes out and Ozma helps Dorothy get out.
4. Yup.
5. The Nomes and their underground realm are from the books.
6. Wilson was an accomplice to Worley's unethical experiments.
7. What Em says is, "The clinic was hit by lightning and it burned to the ground. Everybody was rescued except Dr. Worley."
8. Eggs being poison to Nomes is a feature of the Oz books, but L. Frank Baum never explained why, and nor did any of his successors. What is true is that they don't seem to be fatal. In "Ozma of Oz," the Scarecrow throws two eggs into the Nome King's face, and while he has a panic attack, he's none the worse for wear after he gets cleaned up.
can you do the Wizard of Oz and I love all of your theory’s
I do hope to soon-ish but I know a ton of theories exist on it and I hate being called a theory thief if I get one similar.
@@TheFangirlWatches
A Wizard of Oz theory I have been wanting SOMEONE to do, but I haven't seen it anywhere is, at the end of the movie, what happened to Ms. Gulch? Did she die? Did she come back for Toto? Did she have a change of heart? What!? I would love to see that!
@@wattsisnaim8111
There is plenty of theories to explore with this movie as well more theories with the sequel!
Theories.
@@wattsisnaim8111 According to the stage version of the MGM musical, Miss Gulch was caught in the storm and a telegraph pole fell on her, breaking her leg. While she recuperates, Henry and Em plan to have a word with the sheriff and sort everything out.
I loved this movie as a kid and an adult i personally think oz is her escape but that doesn't mean its not real anyone who has a place like that after a terrible event swears its real but i did always believed the girl died in front of dorothy and she couldn't handle it so she went to oz and brought her to life in oz so it didn't happen
That's a really neat angle! So Ozma dying triggered the whole event for Dorothy. Love that!
Ozma didn't die; the novelization based on the screenplay makes that quite clear.
“What Even is this Movie?”
A great one.
Answer accepted!
Well said!
I saw this movie on video as a kid and was just fascinated by it. To this day it's one of my all-time favorites!
Me too! I never get sick of seeing it!
I grew up with the 1986 Babes in Toyland, which is a bit of a Wizard of Oz knock off, and with Disney plus I watched a previous version. I've now been on a mission to prove that the 1986 version is the best!
"Babes in Toyland" has a long and tangled history with Oz. When the first stage extravaganza based on "Wizard" left Chicago to go on tour, its place was taken by a production of "Babes." Oliver Hardy, who had played the Tin Woodman in the 1925 movie, was in a film version of "Babes" with his partner in comedy, Stan Laurel. Also, one movie version of "Babes" starred Annette Funicello, who had played Ozma in a "pilot" for a Disney Oz movie that never came to be, and Ray Bolger, who of course was MGM's Scarecrow. Shirley Temple did T.V. versions of "The Land of Oz" and "Babes in Toyland" that used many of the same costumes.
I will Never NOT be obsessed with this movie 🍿 Thanks so much for this!
Omg I’m so glad you said this, I was frightened of this movie for 5 years
When you sit down and really think about all the creepy stuff, I'm amazed this movie got green lit! But I'm so glad it did! lol
No need to be.
In the first Wizard of Oz movie they covered that Auntie Em's full name was Emily.
The first _Wizard of Oz_ movie was in 1910; you're thinking of the one from 1939. L. Frank Baum never said what Em's full name was, so different people doing different adaptations have come up with different ideas.
i love how you compared Aunt Em to Oz, that was really thought provoking.
I’m a bit late to the conversation, but I just watched this for the first time a few weeks ago and I was left with many questions. One cross over between the two worlds is the key Dorothy finds. She finds it in Kansas and Aunt Em says it’s nothing, but later Dorothy uses it to escape the Wheelers and find Tick Tock. This could be tangible evidence that the works are intertwined, or Dorothy imagined it.
It's tangible evidence if she had brought the key home and couldn't find anywhere that it worked in Kansas, but, if I recall, she left the key behind, so it's as debatable as Belina's fate. T_T
As is said in the movie, the Scarecrow sent the key to Dorothy on a shooting star.
the Braided Man, Button-Bright, Cap'n Bill holding the Magic Flower, the Frogman, Glinda, some Munchkins, Notta Bit More, the Patchwork Girl, Polychrome, the Shaggy Man, and even Tommy Kwikstep. These are all the characters found during the coronation scene from the various books. The Oz fandom wiki has pictures of them from the movie.
The Guardian of the Gates is there as well. Some say they've spotted the Wizard and Glinda also.
I always loved this movie. I believe the nurse was arrested because she was complicit and did help the doctor in his experiments. The doctor died running in to save his equipment so she was the only one left to answer to the law.
You would think she could use that "but I'm a dumb woman" defense that would have been so popular back in 1899.
Nurse Wilson was indeed an accessory to Dr. Worley's crimes. And the whole staff was surely arrested as well.
How random that you covered this movie because I just watched it last week! I have so many oddly specific memories of times I've watched this movie, it seems like something significant ended up happening right around when I stumbled upon this movie either on tv or at a friend's house who was watching it. I never understood much about it, and yes the Wheelers did freak me out as a child as well haha, they're just kinda silly now when I watch it. Awesome video, and I love that galaxy hoodie! Cheers, Megan
I'm in the same boat! I think of how much the Wheelers scared me as a kid and feel embarrassed by how ridiculous they look now. But when I was 3 I didn't know what a guy in a costume was 🤣
A very interesting take for a sequel, very surreal and dark for what the original was. I loved it and the way it turned out. In my mind Oz is real, but it is influenced by your mentality, sort of like Narnia it becomes what you need it to be but it is dangerous, a trial to aid you in what struggles you are going through.
It isn't a sequel, and while the Nome King has cast a dark pall over Oz, the point of the film is restoring light, which Dorothy and her companions do. And the MGM film isn't the "original"; believe it or not, it's the eighth movie based on the Oz books! ;-)
One of my favorite movies from my childhood. Even though my personal opinion is that Oz is real, I'm pretty sure the writer, director, producer- sorry I'm not sure which- wanted it to be fuzzy.
It would be smart if they did. Then it goes from "have you seen this movie?" to elongated debates about the movie and the doubling of characters and whether Oz is a real place. It's a genius way to generate buzz!
Actually, Walter Murch wanted no mistakes made that Oz was real. He only used the MGM formula to ease people into his own vision of Oz-- which was actually closer to the books than MGM's.
Daaaammmnnn!!! "The Fan Girl" chin looks like it could cut through a diamond 💎!
What is it? It's a seamless blending of elements from the second and third Oz books, and it's great fun. It isn't "bleak," not is it "post-apocalyptic," because no "apocalypse" has taken place, and it isn't any more "insane" than any other fantasy adventure.
"Return to Oz - What Even is This Movie?" The most book-accurate film adaptation of Oz ever to reach the silver screen.
As much as I love the MGM movie, it is really sad that it is all that people know of Oz anymore. And to think that Americans used to look forward to a new Oz book every Christmas.
Ok, but first of all, I love your hair; secondly, your EVE sweater; and thirdly, your Sailor Moon poster/wall scroll in the background.
Now, finally, the movie. I love the movie so much. Even though I and my sisters were very young, this movie left an impact as a cult classic for its dark tone and lack of musicals. For me, the soundtrack, done splendidly by David Shire, is another deal-maker for this film. The music during the opening (the first half of Opening Sequence) is so nostalgic and melancholic to the point that it makes me teary-eyed; and then when Dorothy accidentally woke up Mombi's head (Mombi's Awake). Chilling, I tells you!
I do agree with all of your points, whether Dorothy really was dreaming all of this or not. Maybe Dorothy actually ended up in The Twilight Zone?
Walter Murch stated plainly at the time that Oz was real in his movie, just like it is in the books.
Mmm.. I think that Dorothy really got shocked and it jumbled her brain, now she has gone crazy!
I know you normally focus on just movies but would you ever consider comparing the movies to the book series? I read a few of them when I was younger and always found it all very interesting.
If Oz videos really took off for me I probably would be very open to it. I usually stay away from books because 1. Dyslexia makes reading a nightmare (and my brain won't focus on audio books) and 2. I never know if a video will be a big hit or earn $1.00 in revenue, and it's hard to justify the amount of time taken to go over the books if the audience isn't there to support it.
@@TheFangirlWatches Thank you so much for responding! I apologize I wasn't aware of your dyslexia and I fully understand not wanting to waste time when you have so many other things people want to see. I appreciate you taking the time to let me know it was extremely kind of you.
This movie was so wickedly strange! Love this video and your points about RtO
I think Return to Oz is like my Blade Runner (people swear that movie is deep and awesome but I just find it weird to an offputting degree).
@@TheFangirlWatches oooh I see your point! I found RtO very strange in general and it left me with soooo many questions
@@000RainbowChick000 Read the books. :-)
@@TheFangirlWatches Weird is par for the course with Oz. But why "offputting?" From what I see in your video-- and forgive me, I do not wish to offend-- it seems to me that you're seeing patterns that just are not there, and imposing things on the proceedings that were never intended by either Baum or Murch.
This was one of my favourite childhood movies! When I was in grade 3 I brought Return to Oz in for movie day and everyone was so freaked out lol some kids started crying! It reminds me of dreams/dreamlike states which are really fascinating. Can sometimes but scary but also mystical and wondrous.
"Can sometimes but scary but also mystical and wondrous."
You've just described the ideal fantasy tale!
The funny moment when the Nom King are allergic to eggs luckly Dorothy has Belina
I had this movie on dvd when i was younger and i LOVED it! The Wheelers terrified me as a kid.
They look so goofy now but omg as a kid who didn't get what costumes were, they were horrific!
I can explain the reason behind nurse Wilson being arrested at the end of the movie. Doctor Worley’s shock therapy procedures resulted in many patients being permanently brain-damaged and hidden away. so at the end of the movie when aunt em tells Dorothy “ The clinic was hit by lightning and burned to the ground, everybody was rescued except the doctor“ everybody, meaning the damaged patients that were found. Nurse Wilson was arrested because she was the assistant to the doctor who damaged the patients and who assisted in these horrible procedures and hiding them away.
Or in other words, an accessory to the crime. The rest of the staff were no doubt hauled up on the same charges.
According to the original Wizard of Oz, aunt Em is named Emily. You can hear the psychic who later doubles as the titular Wizard say so.
Oz is Dorothy's Escape from the reality of how crappy it is to live in Kansas 🤣
You seem to have forgotten that the whole of her first adventure in Oz was her quest to get home.
I recently came across a book series that has a take on Kansas and Oz are counterparts. It's called Dorothy Must Die. It takes things from the Oz books/movies and tweaks them to make the story rather dark (ie Dorothy is a corrupt dictator). The main character is a modern day girl named Amy from a small town in Kansas.
Those books are rubbish, and completely fail to take into account that people from all over have journeyed to Oz, beginning with a knight from King Arthur's court, and of course the Wizard was from Omaha. There was even a girl from New Jersey who traveled to Oz in a later book.
I loved this movie. It's been so long since I've seen it. 💚
I was so excited to see it on Disney+. I hadn't seen it in 10+ years before that.
One question I had when I watched this movie was; Where's Toto, tho? what happened to him? It's obvious that the chicken is playing, the sort of ''animal sidekick'' role, which was filled by the dog previously.
I've read some of the books years ago, I only vaguely remember on which books this was based on.
Wow. This was one of your wildest analysis yet, Megan. You should really try to analyze Sabrina Netflix season 3. There's so much going on in those eight episodes. You could do a whole series.
Ahhh I feel behind on Sabrina. I got almost to the end of season 2 and got distracted but I really want to power binge it as soon as I can.
I had a picture book for this movie when I was little and that alone terrified me, I’d never want to look at it on the shelf and it gave me nightmares
Oh my gosh I never thought that there might be products released with the movie (it makes sense, but it's such a weird movie I would have never expected it).
The Fangirl I agree ahaha
Check out the 1986 Canadian and Japanese anime series "The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz." It explains more about Ozma, the Goblin king and Emerald City. It's true to the books and covers all of the Oz stories with Dorothy, including her return to Oz.
The sister station of Cartoon Network has an interesting show. It's called Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. The first episode I saw was today, and it happened to be about what happened to the Wicked Witch of the West from the first movie. Her voice is so close to the original actress!
In the episode, Dorothy had thrown the bucket of water on her and she melted, then her wickedness escaped and started possessing different characters, until she found herself stuck in her crystal ball. Her niece shows up from some boarding school and the witch has her going after Dorothy and the ruby slippers. All the characters end up getting trapped in the crystal ball and the witch pretends to have thought about how horrible she's been and says she'd change and become good. Dorothy doesn't believe her, so the witch possesses the wizard and escapes with them. She even possessed the cat from the crowd that had Toto chase after it, making Dorothy miss the balloon flight back home. This episode thought of everything to make it a sequel to the MGM movie!
There's no Goblin King in Oz. But I know the series you mean, and it's very good, even though as it goes along, it gets further and further away from the source material. It adapted the first, second, third, and sixth books, and for some reason they included Dorothy in the second story arc, even though she wasn't in the book.
@@Seiferboi I've seen a bit of that, and it's..... well, I mean, Baum already wrote a sequel to _Wizard_ 118 years ago, so I wonder why they didn't work with that? In fact, when the MGM movie hit it big, there was brief talk of doing "Marvelous Land" as a movie, but everyone had pretty much moved on to other projects, and I doubt they could have paid Jack Haley enough to put on the buckram Tin Woodman suit again.
made it to the end! definitely intriguing. i wonder if the green ornaments were symbolic in any way to the characters when dorothy was playing his game 🤔
There's definitely a case to argue that idea! Tick Tock was a medal, after all. Scarecrow was an emerald. I can't remember what the others were off the top of my head, but they became very fitting things!
In the book "Ozma of Oz," the Nome King turned many of the Oz characters into green ornaments because they had come from the Emerald City.
The books say Oz is real. Later Dorothy and her Aunt and Uncle moves there.
I just watched Return to Oz for the first time (I'm 23) and I really thought Dorothy would use the life powder on the Nome King's collection.
I LOVE "Return to Oz." I knew it was going to be haunting just from the poster when it came out. I don't know why, but just the way it was constructed made it seem like the movie was going to go down a different road. It took until I was in my 20s to fully understand it, but it's a brilliant interpretation of how nightmarish Oz really is.
Except that it isn't. Oz and its citizens are in the business of getting rid of nightmarish things; there's no better example of that than the book "The Emerald City of Oz," in which four armies of horrible creatures, led by the Nome King, tunnel under the Deadly Desert to try and conquer the Emerald City.
I have been wondering what this movie even is since the 90s. 😂
You are not alone!
*shrug* It's a movie, one which seamlessly blends elements of the second and third Oz books. What more do you need to know?
I forgot about this movie until I saw your video... I THOUGHT IT WAS A FEVER DREAM
I planted a lunch pail a while back. Nothing has sprouted yet. Any gardening tips?
Have you tried watering it with ketchup? 🤣
For me, I consider Oz to be real. I don't think its something in Dorothys head in this one or the original. Yes, Dorothy wakes up in the end, but my theory is that glinda made a spell of some sort, so when she got back, she would wake up like it was a dream. She didn't want Dorothy to go through different therapies or be treated like shes insane, like we see in return to oz.
Theres also a chance oz is literally a parallel universe, and thats why we see parallels of characters.
The original Oz movie was made in 1910; the MGM one was the third movie version of _Wizard_ and the eighth Oz movie. But you're absolutely right about Oz being real. It is in the books, of course, and Walter Murch, who made RtO, was clear that his version was also real. And of course, many more people than Dorothy Gale have traveled there and had adventures. :-)
But one question still centers me: "WHAT HAPPENED TO TOTO?!"
He was at the farm whole Dorothy is in Oz. The voice actor, Frank Weller, even did his bark, uncredited lol! Belinda replaced Toto as Dorothy's animal companion for this movie.
The way I look at it, while Oz and the 'real world' have definite parallels, that's more of a nod to the MGM movie than anything else; it doesn't mean that Oz itself is a dream. If nothing else, as I believe others on here have said, 'Return' is based primarily on the books, and in that version of things, Oz was VERY real, to the point where Dorothy and her family ultimately just moved there. Before that, though, at the end of 'Ozma of Oz' (which 'Return' takes its main plot from), Ozma does indeed tell Dorothy that she'll check in on her from time to time, and lo and behold, she does just that at the end of the film - so in my mind, there's nothing in particular to indicate Oz isn't real; if anything, quite the reverse.
You may also have noted Dorothy drawing a sign on the mirror and whispering Ozma's name; that I'm sure was an adaptation of the secret sign that Dorothy would give in the books if she wanted Ozma to transport her to Oz.
@@MaskedMan66 Ooh, yes; good catch.
this crazy movie. i first saw it at Radio City music hall in NYC with my aunt Annie. it was a huge feature. the wheelers really freaked me out as a kid
Yes! Those Wheelers were too much!
Electro shock therapy 😉 ozma being her reflection Is interesting though. You can see the water when she pulls her out of the mirror at the end.
That's just the mirror itself shuddering.
Heheheh... Ms. Wilson's the *HEAD* nurse, you say? & her counterpart's the princess who steals people's heads, you say??
🤔🤔🤔😱😂
My then best friend thought it was a good idea to show me this when we were kids. The wheelers have traumatized me for life!
Even though they were very quickly shown to be bullies and cowards? *smh*
The Wheelers freaked me out when I was younger
FINALLY I CAN UNDERSTAND THIS
Lol I love Return to Oz but it gets so confusing 🤣
@@TheFangirlWatches Not if you take it for what it is and avoid reading things into it, especially things that aren't there. ;-)
The nurse was likely arrested for the damage done to the patients in the basement. However, she may have gotten off after a trial on the grounds that she was "just following orders". We'll never know for sure, of course.
And it doesn't really matter. But it is pretty plain that she was an accessory to his crimes, and would likely suffer the same penalty as Worley would have done if he'd lived.
@@MaskedMan66 Yeah, that's a good point.
I really wish there was an accurate adaption of the second oz book. Reading the second book and watching this movie really messes with my brain because in the second book jack pumpkin head is created by tip as a prank on his caretaker mombi who is a witch. Dorothy doesn't even show up in the second book. Tip is meant to be our pov character.
I believe this is the way the anime tells it along with the slippers being silver rather than ruby. The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz 1986 anime series.
There are three versions of "Marvelous Land" you can seek out; one is a 1960 T.V. adaptation starring Shirley Temple as Ozma/Tip and Agnes Moorehead as Mombi, one is a 1969 kiddie matinee called "The Wonderful Land of Oz" (actually, it isn't that wonderful, but the costumes are good and Mombi is nicely creepy), and one is a 1981 stage musical which is the most faithful version I've seen.
@@jonathonearl482 I've seen that series and like it a lot. They adapted the first, second, third, and sixth books.
@@MaskedMan66 thank you both
@@NakanoMiku-chan-z2m You're welcome! I would point out that Baum himself made a movie called "His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz," which combined elements of at least two of his books, so he would not have objected to Murch blending "Marvelous Land" and "Ozma." :-)
Saw it at the theater as a 17yo on LSD. I loved it.
Of course it's all real! If it wasn't, then scenes in which Dorothy is not present would not exist. E.G. While Dorothy is busy in the ornaments room, Mombi & The Nomb King are having a conversation in a different location.
Ah, but in the MGM version of "Wizard," we see the Wicked Witch and Dorothy's companions in scenes where Dorothy is not present-- and yet that was a dream! But even so, RtO has a real Oz in it, as Walter Murch said plainly at the time.
@@MaskedMan66 Oh right ok, fair enough! Thanks for the info!
@@Rich7714 You're welcome! :-)
Oz is real as far as the books are concerned (this movie is actually a mixture of two of them) in the later book series Dorothy , Auntie Em and Uncle Henry move there.
It's nice to see notes from people who have also read the books,which I had read years before this movie was ever thought of.(I'm 65.)I was slightly disappointed because this movie didn't adapt quite as much from the books as I had hoped.
There's only one book series.
@@richardranke7878 There's only so much time to fit things into. Even Baum himself only mixed two stories for one of his Oz films.
@@MaskedMan66 I meant to say books later on in the series
When I was a kid we had this on VHS and I think I watched in once and I found it so upsetting
My dad recorded it off the television, so I had it on VHS and found it upsetting too - but I kept watching it every day! 😂
@@TheFangirlWatches I think tiny me was just looking for more singing on the yellow brick road 😂
I remember this movie. My mom was familiar with the Oz books, and mistakenly thought it would be suitable for a small child. She took me to see it at the theater, but had to take me home partway through, as it was way too scary for two-year-old me. When I was about nine, we re-watched it on home video, and it was one of my favorite movies. I was a big fan to the 14 Oz books written by the original author.
I've always considered Oz in the films as being nothing but dreams as the original film implied and many of the characters in the sequel fit with real life counterparts... the mysterious girl bringing Dorothy the pumpkin at the beginning of the film. So many elements in the real world fit and build up to make the dream world of Oz.
Now at the end of the film, when Dorothy sees Ozma in the mirror, it's implied that Dorothy's experience and Oz was real. Personally for me it was a sign that Dorothy delusion's and by this point had gotten worse. That she was now hallucinating it in the real world to enforce her delusions.
Whether or not after the film Dorothy in that world would get worse or better is left open to interpretation.
Of course the meta reason is that they couldn't have the boy, Tip turn into Ozma in 1985, when this movie came out. The electric healing bit probably came from trying to shoe-horn Dorothy into the story.
Why not? There had been a T.V. version of "Marvelous Land" in 1960 (starring Shirley Temple as Ozma/Tip), a movie version in 1969, and a stage production shown on T.V. in 1981.
Remember how worzel gummage used to change his head? The woman who played mombi was married to him in real life
Oz is real and Kansas is the realm of nightmares. That being said, the Emerald City Chiefs will win Sunday's Sports Ball Bowl by 8 points. Just sayin'.
I only understand like half of this but still 👍🏻
No, Kansas is just grey and boring, that's all. At least, the part that Dorothy lived in.
No, Kansas is Dorothy's home.
Return to Oz gave my nightmares.
It still gives me nightmares, but I'm so into it anyways lol
You should have read the books first; everything in the movie was in the books.
Do you have any theories about whether or not the Gump is a parallel to anything in Kansas?
Oh that's a great question that I've never paid much attention too. I'll see if I can find an answer someday soon-ish.
@@TheFangirlWatches I was thinking the same thing.... in the end of the movie when ozma puts up her finger as to say sh... I honestly thought that she was telling her not to say anything or they will think your still crazy and send you to another Dr. To make you forget...
Honestly, with Bellina's possible death and Dorothy only visiting Oz when he's comatose, could it be that Oz is a metaphor for the afterlife? Like, Dorothy went there in the first movie when she was out cold and could have easily died if she didn't wake up in the end.
Billina is the hen's name, and Oz is real; Murch made no bones about that.
@@MaskedMan66 I know. I meant that she thought her mom died and she knew that billina was going to die.
I also meant the land of oz, not the person.
@@squeaktheswan2007 Of course her mom died; Dorothy was an orphan. By the way, I missed earlier that you said, "the first movie." Whether you mean the MGM version or the actual first movie made in 1910, neither of them is connected to RtO.
@@MaskedMan66 Oh ok. Sorry, I was thinking of her aunt, not her mom.
OMG could be possible that Jack the Pumpkin king from "The Nightmare Before Christmas" origin story really started from this movie? That is how he look like at the beginning of "The Nightmare Before Christmas" movie before he was set on fire.
There’s definitely some pieces that connect really well. Plus, they’re both Disney properties!
@@TheFangirlWatches I love your videos than you for your response! Maybe you could find the connection and let us know if a video. I would love to see what you come of with. I also like how you break down Coraline videos.
This was a very interesting review of this film as a stand alone analysis. Hey I made it to the end.
why didn't bilina speak on the farm, but in oz she does?. It's all in her head i think. All the humans appear as villains in oz as well. She just hallucinated on the raft. Also i think ozma just happened to be within the remit of the torch light when it was shone on dorothy. so no evidence that she existed externally other than dorothy's testimony. If tik tok represents the electric shock therapy machine, bilina the chicken on the farm, knome king the doctor, mombe the nurse, the other assistants the wheelers. who is jack and the gump supposed to represent.
Jack represents the pumpkin given to Dorothy by Ozma, when Dorothy was in her room at the mental institution. I don't know who The Gump represents.
The way you described Oz a trauma induced delusion made me realize that Zack Snyder's Suckerpunch is his jacked up take on a similar premise, inclusive of using the same actors twice.
You are so right! And I never even noticed that Suckerpunch used voice actors from Return to Oz! 😱
@@TheFangirlWatches I wasn't even aware of that. Most everyone I know hates Suckerpunch and I was never encouraged to critically analyze it our look up the cast.
Of course, nothing could be further from the truth.
The end bloopers 😭😭😂😂😂
Personally, I loved this movie when I was little. I wanted to watch it everyday, it drove my mother insane. She never could understand why I liked this weird interpretation of Oz and more than begrudgingly let me watch it as much as I did. I think now, as an adult, this was the first indication that I would be that goth kid, and a person with a darker sense of humor and love of the macabre. ;)
Not a weird interpretation at all, but very close to the spirit of the books; in fact, nearly everything in the movie is from the books. But it isn't "dark." It's a case of evil casting a shadow that good must dispell-- which it does in the person of Dorothy Gale. :-)
This is all I have to say about this detail.
It was the time where Electro Shock Treatment was a thing but at the end of the movie I think it was the time where a light was cast on Electro Shock Treatment and people came around to seeing that it was a extremely Cold and Powerful way of mistreating and hurting random people and Electro Shock Treatment was eventually No More!
From what I understand, it's still a thing being used to this day in those "conversion" places where they try to force gay men to become straight.
Oz is a alternate universe of earth but with magic
Return to Oz looks somehow even more trippy than the original.
If Wizard of Oz is a trip, than Return to Oz is a bad trip. It's sounds like stoner talk when you describe it! lol "Dude... what if there were these monsters with wheels instead of hands and feet, and they worked for a lady with like 50 heads!"
I love this movie. I'm so glad that you do too. I own the dvd.
I'm jealous! I've wanted to buy it forever but I'm holding out for a digital combo pack at this point.
Hollywood is committed to the dream idea. Maybe they're asking whether dreams are real.